U.S. President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of the pesticide trifludimoxazin, a known carcinogen and a PFAS “forever chemical.”
The EPA classified trifludimoxazin as having “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential,” which essentially means that while there is evidence the chemical could potentially be one that causes cancer, there isn’t enough data to say for sure. Additionally, the EPA does not consider trifludimoxazin a PFAS, though the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development does.
In late summer 2026, some people on social media claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration approved the use of a potentially carcinogenic pesticide that’s a “forever chemical,” also known as PFAS. PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting chemicals that persistently remain in the environment, capable of accumulating in things like rivers, plants, animals and people’s bodies, that often have harmful health effects on people, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
For example, one Facebook post (archived) claimed that the EPA “just approved a carcinogenic herbicide called trifludimoxazin,” to be used on crops including corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, peanuts, citrus fruits (including oranges), apples and tree nuts such as almonds. According to the post, environmental groups consider trifludimoxazin a PFAS pesticide and “forever chemical.”
The U.S. EPA just approved a carcinogenic herbicide called trifludimoxazin for agricultural use on a wide range of crops, including corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, peanuts, citrus fruits (including oranges), apples, and tree nuts such as almonds.
Trifludimoxazin is also considered by many environmental groups to be a PFAS pesticide because it contains highly fluorinated chemical structures and can break down into persistent fluorinated compounds – i.e. nature can’t break it down properly as it’s synthetic. Environmental organizations have described it as a “forever chemical” and have filed lawsuits challenging the EPA’s approval.
Environmental groups have also pointed out that the company’s own studies showed evidence suggesting cancer concerns and that the EPA downplayed those findings whe not was approved. The EPA claims the product is safe and that people shouldn’t be concerned. Not a good look for MAHA.
Similar Facebook (archived) posts (archived) shared the same claims, which were also spread on X (archived) and Reddit (archived). Snopes readers searched the site and sent us emails asking if the rumor is true.
The Trump administration’s EPA proposed approving trifludimoxazin in June 2025 and went through with the approval in June 2026. Researchers have found some evidence suggesting the chemical may be carcinogenic, but it’s not a “known carcinogen” like some posts claim. Trifludimoxazin is a PFAS as defined by the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, although not as defined by the more narrow EPA definition.
Trifludimoxazin is a pesticide, specifically an herbicide, that kills certain broad-leafed plants and grass weed species at agricultural sites farming “row crops (e.g., cereal grains, legumes, soybean) and tree orchards and groves (citrus, pome fruits, and tree nuts),” according to the EPA (PDF Page 6).
This wasn’t the first time the EPA has tried to approve trifludimoxazin. In 2021, while Joe Biden was president, the EPA approved pesticide products containing trifludimoxazin, however; this approval was halted by lawsuits filed by environmental groups. The EPA then changed rules to require further EPA assessments before approving a new pesticide, and, ultimately, the makers of trifludimoxazin dropped their request for approval at the time.
The same environmental groups are attempting to halt the new approval for trifludimoxazin through lawsuits, as they did previously.
Potential carcinogen
The EPA did find evidence suggesting trifludimoxazin could possibly be carcinogenic, although it did not do enough research to confirm with certainty whether the chemical is carcinogenic.
In one study of rat carcinogenicity through chronic dietary exposure (PDF Page 8), the EPA found “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential.” According to the EPA, such a classification means that the data raises a concern that the chemical has “potential carcinogenic effects in humans,” but the EPA has determined the data is “not sufficient for a stronger conclusion.”
Trifludimoxazin’s entry on the pesticides properties database maintained by the U.K.-based University of Hertfordshire says that the chemical is “known not to cause a problem” as a carcinogen. The entry does report that trifludimoxazin is a potential liver toxicant, though. The database also notes “no serious health implications have been identified” with trifludimoxazin.
So while trifludimoxazin could potentially be a carcinogen, there currently isn’t enough evidence to say with certainty that the chemical causes cancer.
Forever chemical
There are at least three definitions of PFAS, according to a 2022 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Digital Discovery: a broader definition from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that is widely used internationally, a narrower definition used by the EPA and a definition that is a compromise between the two other definitions.
The University of Hertfordshire’s database also classifies trifludimoxazin as a PFAS.
Where else has it been approved?
According to the University of Hertfordshire’s database, trifludimoxazin has not been approved for use in the United Kingdom or the European Union as a whole. However, each individual state within the European Union has approved the pesticide for use in their individual countries. It has also been approved for use in Canada.
For further reading, Snopes has previously fact-checked claims about potentially toxic chemicals, including a claim about the use of paraquat by the parent company of the pomegranate juice brand Pom Wonderful.
